News You Can Use: 9/19/2018
- ‘Right to be forgotten’ could threaten global free speech, say NGOs
In the latest ECJ case to be heard in Luxembourg on Tuesday, the French data regulator is seeking to extend that power so that it applies universally. That would permit national regulators to hide articles deemed unacceptable not only from their own cyberspace such as google.fr, but also from global domains including google-com and from those of other countries.
Google is resisting the claim on the grounds that it would set a precedent for authoritarian regimes to limit free speech.
France’s data regulator, the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertės (CNIL), has argued that if it upholds a complaint by a French citizen, search engines such as Google should not only be compelled to remove links from google.fr but all Google domains.
- Across the U.S., 5G Runs Into Local Resistance
All four national cellphone companies are pushing to build out their networks with a profusion of small, local cells to keep their data-hungry customers satisfied and lay the groundwork for fifth-generation, or 5G, service.
Those plans face pushback in many places, and not just from residents. Officials in some cities say they don’t have enough staff to process applications for dozens or even hundreds of new installations. In some smaller towns, officials say they lack the expertise to review the new technology, though they’re working fast to get up to speed.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/across-the-u-s-5g-network-builders-run-into-local-resistance-1536692258
- Population bombs and low-fertility countries
- Amazon’s Jeff Bezos: Big Businesses Should Be Scrutinized, Not Vilified
“All big institutions of any kind will be and should be scrutinized,” Mr. Bezos said. “It’s not personal. It’s kind of what we want to have as a society happen.”
The same scrutiny should apply to U.S. presidents, Mr. Bezos said, without naming Mr. Trump. Mr. Bezos said it is important for politicians not to vilify big businesses since they can create so much value.
“There are certain things that only big companies can do,” Mr. Bezos said. “Nobody in their garage is going to build an all-fiber fuel-efficient Boeing 787.”
- The YouTube stars heading for burnout: ‘The most fun job imaginable became deeply bleak’
Lees began to feel a knock-on effect on his health. “Human brains really aren’t designed to be interacting with hundreds of people every day,” he says. “When you’ve got thousands of people giving you direct feedback on your work, you really get the sense that something in your mind just snaps. We just aren’t built to handle empathy and sympathy on that scale.” Lees developed a thyroid problem, and began to experience more frequent and persistent stretches of depression. “What started out as being the most fun job imaginable quickly slid into something that felt deeply bleak and lonely,” he says.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/08/youtube-stars-burnout-fun-bleak-stressed
Photo by Tadeusz Lakota on Unsplash
News You Can Use: 9/12/2018
- 44 Percent of Americans 18-27 Have Deleted the Facebook App This Year, Poll Finds
According to a new study by the Pew Research Center, 54 percent of Facebook users ages 18 and older have adjusted their privacy settings in the wake of revelations that Facebook repeatedly failed to protect consumer data as it was shared and abused by a myriad of Facebook partners, including political analytics firm Cambridge Analytica.
The study also notes that around 42 percent of Facebook users have chosen to take a break from the social platform of several weeks or more, with a quarter of users choosing to delete the Facebook app from their phones entirely in the last year.
- When should you take a mental health day?
It is generally not a good idea to take a mental health day spontaneously. That is, if you wake up in the morning and dread going to work, don’t use that feeling as a reason to call in sick. Stress and anxiety are emotional experiences you have when there is something in your world you are trying to avoid. If you call in sick when you feel this way, you are laying down a memory that can start to create a habit to respond to stress and anxiety by actually avoiding work that may need to be done. You don’t want your go-to response to stress to be to run away from it.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90225167/when-is-it-ok-to-take-a-mental-health-day
- 3 steps to money mastery: Would you rather have freedom or stuff?
- Confessions of a young ad agency staffer: ‘If you leave for lunch, you get that side-eye’
In the ad agency world, people who are very young stress themselves until they get sick because they want so badly to be perfect. Everyone I know who is young who works in this business is like, ‘I have to be amazing, I have to get promoted.’ Everyone who is older is so jaded. They just don’t want to work anymore. My boss works from home twice a week and takes calls from home.
Do you feel like multiple people should be doing your job?
I handle seven different parts of our client’s business. It’s crazy. I feel like there should be a manager and someone to assist them for every piece of business I work on. They don’t hire enough people. When someone goes on vacation, we have to sit down and train everybody on what we’re doing. It’s very inefficient. I think that to save money they try to cram as many of us onto as many clients and campaigns as possible.
https://digiday.com/marketing/confessions-young-ad-agency-staffer-leave-lunch-get-side-eye/
- Not all popular YouTubers are raking in cash for their videos
Marshall says his decision to use “real music” you’d hear on the radio severely cuts into the actual profit turned by his channel. Where the profits for a monetized video that uses music in the public domain would be split between the creator and YouTube, the record labels that own the top-40 tracks take “all of the money, and we are left with zero.” These videos can still be profitable if the YouTuber and the label can reach an agreement; otherwise, monetizing videos with copyrighted music is virtually out of the question. “Out of … 147 videos, we are monetizing 11,” he says in a video explaining his earnings. “That’s 7 percent. We are monetizing 7 percent of the content that we put out.”
According to Marshall, the only way the team is able to continue making videos is through people buying merch, tickets to their tour (roughly $30 a ticket for general admission, according to a recent sale), or by buying a $4.99 channel membership for special perks. (This model is similar to the one employed by mid-range musicians, who also rely on merch and ticket sales, and independent writers and artists through platforms like Patreon.) “You’re supporting us. Just you buying a shirt, it’s silly … but it’s what allows us to keep doing this,” he explains.
Photo by Chad Peltola on Unsplash
News You Can Use: 8/15/2018
- 5 Signs Your Employees are Nearing Burnout
Forty-four percent of workers said a serious business mistake or shortcoming has been the result of a miscommunication at some point in their professional experience. And 18 percent said that miscommunication lost a sale — a third of those sales valued above $100,000.
For efficiency and profitability’s sake, miscommunication is one thing you don’t want running rampant around the workplace. Sadly, when employees are overworked and overstressed, miscommunications are inevitable — and they’re often a sign that you need to hire more people, clean up processes or redistribute existing projects from certain employees.
- Are middle children really going extinct? Here’s a reality check
Sadly, statistics from Pew Research back up this up. In honor of Middle Child Day, which is today, the research organization parsed some of the demographic data around family size to dig deeper into the question of middle child extinction. Broadly speaking, middle children in America are a lot less common than they were 30 years ago. In 1976, 65% of American mothers aged 40-44 had three or more children, Pew writes. By 2016, that number had fallen to just 38%.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90216974/are-middle-children-really-going-extinct-heres-a-reality-check
- Is War With China Inevitable?
- Why You Should Get Good at Small Talk
It’s quite beautifully phrased that “Small talk brings us into the present moment with one another.” You might have been thinking about two different things, or feeling separated by unfamiliarity, but even a point of contact over your favorite coffee flavor (uh, mocha?) can make you feel like you’re sharing an experience with someone. A small experience. Big experiences come with big talks, and you will build to that together.
https://lifehacker.com/why-you-should-get-good-at-small-talk-1828174579
- How to Actually Make Money as a Travel Blogger or Lifestyle Brand
Before you start dreaming up an online course, ask yourself how to best serve your community. “It’s actually been proven that only 3 percent of people will ever complete the course. I don’t want people spending money on my stuff if they’re not going to implement,” she shared. Instead, she asked herself, What’s the best way to get in front of them and make it so valuable that they absolutely love it? She went on to create experiences and workshops that helped people learn and implement right away.
“Get back to basics — to caring about your community and your customers and asking them all the time, ‘What matters to you? What’s important?’ And then [work backwards and create a solution] for them.”
Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash